What wireless networking standard should you choose if your wireless network uses MIMO?

What wireless networking standard should you choose if your wireless network uses MIMO?

• 802.11n
• 802.11b
• CT-802
• 802.11a 

EXPLANATION

In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output, or MIMO, is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmit and receive antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wireless communication standards including IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, HSPA+, WiMAX, and Long Term Evolution.

Years ago, 802.11n introduced some exciting technologies that brought massive speed boosts over 802.11b and g. 802.11ac does something similar compared with 802.11n. For example, 802.11n supported four spatial streams (4×4 MIMO) and a channel width of 40MHz. But 802.11ac can utilize eight spatial streams and has channels up to 80MHz wide — which can then be combined to make 160MHz channels. Even if everything else remained the same (and it doesn’t), this means 802.11ac has 8x160MHz of spectral bandwidth to play with versus 4x40MHz — a huge difference that allows 802.11ac to squeeze vast amounts of data across the airwaves.